Leader News |
GISBORNE marked the beginning of the Bendigo Football League race with a shellacking both between the boundary line and in the injury room.
The local Bulldogs were beaten for class by a damaging South Bendigo at Gardiner Reserve, 12.12 (84) to 17.20 (122), but new coach Kevin Fitzgerald has personnel problems to contend with rivalling Gisborne's tardy start.
Thomas Waters and Tylah Greetham headline the woes, with the pair poised to spend long stints on the sidelines with ankle injuries, while Heath Simpson was seeing stars after heavy contact.
And another star, Ben Sonogan, will tie the knot as Gisborne treks up the Calder Highway to meet its 2012 grand final gremlin, Golden Square.
"We'll have to move on pretty quick," Fitzgerald said.
It truly was a disastrous start to Fitzgerald's tenure and Gisborne's campaign, the Bulldogs swiftly squandering a one-goal lead at the first change as the travellers ran amok.
Gisborne would manage just four second-half majors as renowned sharpshooter Justin Maddern bagged seven for South Bendigo.
And it could have been worse.
"We knew he was a good player. We were pretty fortunate in the end that he didn't kick as straight as he normally does. Otherwise he would have tortured us," Fitzgerald said.
"They were better than us and we were just outplayed. Contested footy is an area we've made a pillar of our game and they beat us at it. We just couldn't get control of the game there.
"Being beaten at the contested ball is something we can't afford to do. Maybe we got a little ahead of ourselves, thinking we'd played off in the grand final last year and thought it was our time, but it's only your time if you do the work.
"The warning signs were there in the second quarter. We played OK early but there were patches where we let ourselves down in the second and that continued into the third."
Hamish Govan was Gisborne's best, while Ollie Messaoudi and Shaun Comerford toiled hard.
Gisborne and Golden Square meet at Wade St on Saturday at 2.20pm.
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